A Father's Love
by whenshewasgood
Summary: Tcest from Splinter's perspective.


Splinter sat in his room, not even trying to meditate. Meditation was for clearing one's mind, and allowing one's stress to gently ebb away. This was not a time for his subconscious to gently sort through his day-to-day problems.

Today he had walked into the lair after a walk on the surface to enjoy the spring air, only to find the place stinking of what could only be delicately described as turtle semen. At first he'd thought they'd only been, er… having their usual solo experiences. He knew they did it, and they had always been fairly discreet about it. Downright secretive, really. He did not begrudge them this small release, though he had often considered teaching them his own method of dealing with such things. Leonardo was the only one whose meditation skills were at a level where he would benefit from that kind of mental discipline training, and Splinter had frankly just felt too embarrassed to bring it up. But as he walked into the kitchen carrying some flowers he had found, he sniffed a few more times, and frowned. There were two different scents in the air. Two of his sons had… But then he stopped, because something even more horrifying had revealed itself to him. Not only were there two scents in the air, but they were coming from the same room, and they had both happened at close to the same time. What had his sons been doing?

Splinter had sat down in the kitchen, placing the flowers on the table in front of him, and tried to understand what his nose was telling him. But he'd only had time for a few more sniffs before his sharp ears picked up a whispered conversation. The voices belonged to the two turtles whose scents now permeated the lair, and their words were what had made Splinter retreat to his room, where he had spent the last few hours trying not to panic.

It wasn't just lust. That was what made everything so hard. If it had just been hormones, the result of one too many springs spent alone, Splinter would know precisely what to do. If it was (ancestors forbid) a case of abuse, his course would be clear. But his two sons felt more deeply about each other than that. They were in love.

Splinter fought that parental panic he hadn't felt since his sons were six and Michelangelo had almost choked to death because he'd worn his mask in his sleep. He was way out of his league here. He couldn't ask anyone about this. He didn't know his way around the internet. He had to do this on his own. And he was afraid.

What would this do to his family? He couldn't leave it alone, that was for sure. Such a thing might stay hidden for a long time, but its effects would still be felt. So he had to bring it out into the light at some point. The thought of that eventual confrontation filled him with dread. The last thing he wanted to do was invade his sons' privacy so completely, forbid them from something that under other circumstances he would welcome with open arms. A part of him wanted to just let them be, allow them this small happiness, perhaps even give them his blessing. He knew humans considered incest to be wrong, but his own littermates had chosen partners from among each other. Did turtles ever mate that closely? It wasn't something he'd ever had occasion to find out. And even if they did, could the rules that governed animals apply to his sons, who were so close to being human?

From what he had been able to gather, incest among humans was regarded with abject horror, at least in part because the children of such a union were genetically inferior. Well, that would not apply to his sons. But there was more to it than that. What, exactly, he did not know, but it did not seem to him that such a thing would be reviled by humans from all cultures so lightly.

And then there was the matter of his sons as warriors. Would such a pairing help or hinder them during battle? And for that matter, how would his other two sons react? Would they be disgusted with their brothers? How much disharmony would one smaller harmony bring into this already precarious family?

Splinter got up and stretched. This was going nowhere. His mind had been moving in circles for hours. He needed more information than just a scent and a few whispers.

Over the next few days he observed his sons, and found out many interesting things. The first thing he discovered was that what he had smelled had almost certainly been their first experience together. There was an awkwardness and a tenderness between them that had not been there the day before. There were a million little clues he could pick up now, small glances, gestures, simply a greater awareness of the other. It was… sweet. Splinter had to hide a smile when one of them went to the other with a plate of food and handed it to him with awkward kindness. They definitely had that new couple cuteness about them.

His other sons seemed to already be aware of this change in their brothers' relationship, as well as this recent development. The thinly veiled teasing remarks did not escape Splinter's notice, though they might have before, and they seemed accepting. It made him wonder how long this had been going on. It also made him wonder if his sons intended to hide this from him indefinitely. That made him frown. He could understand their hesitation to tell him, but if they actually intended to keep it a secret forever, he might have to disapprove simply because he could not abide deception among family.

But something told him they were simply afraid of what he would say. His son would look at him sometimes, with a deep pain in his eyes, and it made Splinter want to reach out and embrace his son, and tell him he would always love him, no matter what. But if they were going to tell him, he would let them come to him.

He went out with them on a training run for the first time in a long time, earning a lot of surprised looks, and some worry. Leonardo even hinted that his age might hinder him, earning him a rap on the head. Splinter wondered where his sons got the idea that he was some ancient grandfather on death's door. He was only a little older than they were, in simple years. The training run went well, on his end at least, but it confirmed his worry that his sons' relationship might hinder their teamwork. The couple spent all their time watching each other's backs, and while his other two sons did manage quite well on their own, this did not bode well for the team. Splinter decided to accompany them on more training runs, and perhaps even forbid them from fighting if things did not improve. Love was a grand thing, but so was staying alive.

Knowing something this big about his sons made Splinter feel oddly itchy inside, and it was this vague feeling that he blamed for his newfound mischievousness. He paired the couple together in sparring more and more, and said things in their hearing that hit just a little too close to the truth. It was perhaps a little cruel, but Splinter did not mean it that way. It was like picking at a scab. Now that he knew, it was impossible not to act on that knowledge, even in small ways.

This state did not last very long, however.

He _knew_ they wanted to tell him, and he also knew their fear of his rejection was making them hesitate. But he was pretty sure it was not his desire for them to hurry up and spit it out that made him leave for a set amount of time and then come home early. It was that damn mischievousness, and when he walked in and caught the two of them with mouths locked, eyes going wide in fear at his presence, he felt strangely ashamed. He was not prepared. He had no idea how he was going to react. Why had he done this to them?

"My sons, please meet me in my room in ten minutes."

He turned and fairly fled to his sanctuary, wishing he could have gotten away with giving himself more time to prepare.

What was he going to say? What would he decide? Approve or disapprove? The two options circled each other in his mind for ten minutes, and at the end of the appointed time he still didn't know what he was going to say. But when his sons entered the room and knelt down in front of him, looking scared and ashamed and just a tiny bit hopeful, he knew one thing with absolute certainty.

They were his sons, and he would love them no matter what. Anything else was just circumstance.


End file.
